- Michael Van Wijk
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Michael van Wijk (born in Bombay, India, 30 September 1952), is a professional sportsman, bodybuilder, actor and TV presenter in the United Kingdom. van Wijk is most well known for his role as Wolf on British TV endurance sports game show Gladiators, a role he held for seven years, eight series (1992-1999). Van Wijk now owns a gym in Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand called "Wolf's Gym," where he now resides.
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Career
Before his rise to fame he owned several gyms until he secured his first contract with his long term employer 'Gladiators'.. According to a Sky One interview, producers refused to allow van Wijk to be mean as a Gladiator, but he soon persuaded them to let him try it. This distinctive persona led him to be the most popular Gladiator in the history of the show, although he courted controversy.
He was also known to video game players for appearing on the cover of the computer game Barbarian. Michael van Wijk was spotted by a member of the Gladiators production team shortly before filming began on the first television series in 1992. He once stated on Gladiators that his favourite television show was Star Trek.
Van Wijk used to run a gym in Hayes in Bromley, London called 'Wolf's Gym'. It was open until the late nineties and included facilities geared towards body builders, boxers amd general fitness. In October 1994 he played one match for the reserve team of Gillingham F.C., playing for 73 minutes in a match against Cambridge United's reserves before going off injured. The match attracted a crowd ten times the average for the club's reserve team games.[1]
In 1988, van Wijk appeared in a small, featured role in Ken Russell's film Salome's Last Dance.
Van Wijk, second wife, Paula, and their three children (Nico 13, Gina 7, and Elena 5) live in Auckland, New Zealand. According to a report in the Sunday Mirror, his wife once owned "Chipmunks Playground and Cafe", an indoor adventure playground for 3-12 year olds, now sold.
Wolf's return to Gladiators
After being missing from British Television screens for nine years, van Wijk told Loaded magazine in April 2008, "I want to come back, I want to be a Gladiator again."[2] Loaded sent a journalist from London to Wolf's home in Henderson, Auckland, to persuade the actor to return to England to appear in the new series. According to the Loaded article, today, van Wijk, 59, is a regular on the Kiwi Cage Fighting scene, and used to compete nationally in Ju Jitsu championships. He is a twice silver medallist competing against fighters half of his age for the New Zealand title.[2]
Most recently he appeared on the Gladiators Legends Special where he took part in alongside Ace, Hunter and Trojan. But the standing ovation Wolf received when he reappeared in the Gladiator arena was said to have lasted for five minutes, holding up filming of the show and forcing producers to quieten the crowd. Sky could not deny any further the British public's desire for Wolf's return, and after Loaded magazine's campaign to bring the character back, Sky announced on August 29, 2008 that Wolf would return in the second series."It was like I'd never been away." said van Wijk. "The audience was explosive and phenomenal and clearly wanted more of the Wolfman." However, he was to be a team captain rather than an actual Gladiator. The revived Gladiators was axed by Sky in May 2009.
References
- ^ Elligate, David (2009). Gillingham FC On This Day. Pitch Publishing. p. 166. ISBN 1-9054-1145-0.
- ^ a b "Bring Back Wolf!". Jeff Maysh, Loaded. http://www.jeffmaysh.com/?p=82. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
External links
Categories:- 1952 births
- Living people
- British actors
- British television presenters
- Gillingham F.C. players
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